Before Winter Hits Check Out These Maintenance Tips

Updated on: November 8, 2024

Prepare Your Garage Door for Winter: Essential Maintenance Tips

As the cold weather sets in, it’s time to ensure your Genie garage door opener is ready to handle the challenges of winter. Regular maintenance not only keeps your garage door operating smoothly but also extends the life of your opener and prevents unexpected issues when you need it most. From lubricating the screw drive to checking your Safe-T-Beam® system, a little preparation goes a long way in avoiding the inconvenience of a malfunctioning garage door during harsh winter months. Here’s your complete guide to winterizing your garage door opener for optimal performance.

Warning: Always unplug the garage door opener before attempting any maintenance to your garage door or opener.

Screw Drive Models:

To improve the operation of your Genie screwdrive garage door opener in cold weather, you should clean, adjust, and lubricate the screw and carriage assembly. Wipe off old excess lubricant from the Drive Screw and lubricate the Drive Screw with new Genie Lubricant as part of the yearly maintenance. (Genie Garage door opener lubricant). Specifically, for the winter months be sure to use the cold weather screwdrive lubricant (Low temp lubricant). This is recommended for Genie screw drive garage door openers made prior to 2010 (such as Excelerator® H8000, ISD995, ISD1000, Medallion Series, Legacy models H6000, H4000, IMS1000 and more). If your garage door opener and rail look like the image below, then you would need to follow this step.

 

Check for “Skipping and Grinding”- When your garage door is opening and closing it should smoothly run up and down the rail. If you notice skipping (jumping) or hear any grinding noise as the door is traveling open or close, this could indicate that the screw drive carriage is starting to strip out. (Genie has two style screw drive carriages- the carriage for our older screwdrive models from 2009 and prior, and a carriage for our newer style screw drive models from 2010 until present).   

All Genie Garage Door Opener Models:

Inspect Garage Door Hardware – Cold weather can cause metal parts to contract, leading to issues like squeaky hinges, misaligned tracks, or a sluggish door. Inspect the garage door cables, rollers and hinges for signs of wear or damage. Tighten any loose bolts, and lubricate moving parts as needed using a light-weight general purpose silicone based grease. This will allow your Genie garage door opener to not have to work as hard against the friction of dry rollers and will extend the life of your Genie.

 

Battery Backup System- Snow and ice sitting on the power lines or poor road conditions causing impacts with the power poles can take your power right out. Now is the time to make sure your Genie battery backup system works. Unplug your garage door opener from the outlet. Test the garage door opener by using a remote or the wall console in the garage. Additionally, the Genie battery backup units have colored LED lights to let you know if the battery is not recharging. These lights can appear on the battery or on the powerhead depending on which model you have. There may just be something unplugged or you may need to replace the battery backup. Shop Battery Backup replacements.

Troubleshooting codes for the 12-24 Volt model garage door openers battery backup. 

 

Belt/ Chain Drive Models:

Chain/Belt Tensioning – If the chain or belt is excessively loose, follow the chain/belt tensioning procedure from the Owner’s Manual for your garage door opener model.

1. Make sure carriage and bullet are not engaged. To disengage the carriage, pull the red cord and move the carriage away from the bullet.
2. Prior to tightening, check to make certain the tension bracket is hooked into the rail. 2c. Manually tighten tension nut with a wrench until chain/belt is approximately 1/8" above the bottom edge of rail, measured at the midpoint of rail.
3. For more details check the owner’s manual for this model.

 

Other (Garage and Garage Door Tips):

Light Bulb Replacement – Parking in the garage increases with the colder temperatures. Make sure you can safely get out of your vehicle and see in the garage with the garage door opener lights. It is nice that the garage door opener lights automatically come on when you open or close your garage door, but this does not help if they are burnt out or not bright enough. Replace any light bulbs that are burnt out with the Genie LED garage door opener bulbs. These Genie LED bulbs are an upgrade from older CFL or incandescent style bulbs to LED light bulbs that are made for the garage. They last up to 10,000 hours and are rated for extreme heat and cold. Check the other lighting in your garage too, these LED bulbs will work in any standard light socket.  Shop LED light bulbs.

 

Door Balance Check – With the garage door in the fully closed position, release the emergency lever to raise and lower the garage door manually—it should move freely and smoothly. Raise the garage door manually 3’ to 4’ and let go. The door should move very slowly or stay stationary. If the door closes quickly or opens, it is out of balance and needs adjusted. Contact a professional dealer for door balance adjustments. (Note: It is never recommended to pull the emergency release with the door in the open position.) Door springs can be extremely dangerous. We do not recommend that untrained personnel work with door springs.  We would recommend that you call your local professional Genie dealer. Locate a Genie professional garage door opener dealer in your area here. 

Remote Battery Replacement – Replace the batteries in the garage door remote on an as-needed basis or at least every 2–3 years. Just a reminder: cold weather can drain the battery quicker, sometimes it is best to not wait until the battery is dead to replace it or you can get stuck outside.  If you notice a decrease in the range of the remote or if the remote has an indicator light that does not illuminate, it is time to replace the batteries. If that does not work then it may be time to replace the remote.

 

Keypad Battery Replacement- Replace the batteries in your outdoor keypad. With the keypad being out in the cold temperatures the batteries can drain faster. Also, like most homeowners, the keypad is not used that often so if it has been a while since you have tested it. Odds are it is time to replace the batteries ahead of time to save yourself from getting stuck in the cold. If you do not already have a keypad, it can be added to your current garage door opener for added convivence to get you into the garage faster, and out of the cold. For a Genie Intellcode garage door opener, shop the GK-R, for all other brand garage door openers shop the Universal garage door opener keypad.  

 

Standard Garage Door Opener Maintenance:

Contact Reverse Test – Ensuring your garage door opener’s auto-reverse feature works correctly is crucial for safety, especially in winter when the door might be used more frequently. Place a piece of wood or similar hard item, on the garage floor where the garage door makes contact and attempt to close the garage door. The door should contact the item and reverse directions within 2 seconds. If the garage door opener fails this test, the Contact Reverse feature needs to be adjusted. See your owner’s manual or contact a professional dealer to correct.

Safe-T-Beam® System Check – Clean the sensors with a soft cloth and ensure they’re aligned correctly to avoid any issues with the door reversing unexpectedly. Check that both the RED and GREEN LEDs are ON steady, which indicates the system is working properly. If the system appears to be working, perform a check by starting to close the door and then passing an object through the beam. The garage door should stop and reverse back to the fully open position. If this does not occur or if the red LED is blinking, your Safe-T-Beam System requires realignment or maintenance. When checking the Safe-T-Beams, don't forget to check the Safe-T-Beam wiring as well. Look for damaged or broken wiring that may need replaced or re-secured (especially near the terminals). 

Clean out your garage- When the snow starts to fall you do not want to be stuck parking outside because your car cannot fit in the garage or worse, your door won’t open. Winter ice and snow that builds up under the garage door can cause the garage door to freeze to the ground or to not close all the way. This can also cause damage to the garage door and garage door opener. Make sure the area where the garage door seal hits the floor is clear and clean of snow/ debris. It helps to have a broom and shovel handy nearby to help keep this area clear. Don’t forget to also make sure your car has the necessary emergency gear. It is recommended to always keep a blanket and flashlight in your car.

Fix your broken garage door opener - If your garage door opener is not working at all, use our by model directory to get the right parts the first time to fix it quickly. DIY installation of these parts will get your garage door opener up and running in no time. If you are not sure what the issue is, we having some troubleshooting tips to get you started in the right direction.